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Chase Southwest Premier benefits and perks

  • Joseph Hostetler

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    The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card is one of the best airline credit cards for folks who collect Southwest points or live in an area where Southwest frequently flies. Not only does this card offer several ways to collect tons of Southwest points, but it’s integral for folks that have their sights set on earning the Southwest Companion Pass.

    Here are the best Chase Southwest Premier benefits and perks that will make you consider opening the card next. You can read our Southwest Premier card review for more details.

    These Chase Southwest Premier benefits and perks make it an excellent card for anyone who flies Southwest often. My wife and I use Southwest to fly to Chicago once or twice each year. (Photo by Joseph Hostetler/Million Mile Secrets)

    Benefits and perks

    Before we get started, there are a couple important notes. The Chase 5/24 rule means that your card application will be denied if you have opened five or more new personal credit card accounts within the past 24 months (business cards usually don’t count towards this total). Also, you can only have one personal Southwest credit card opened at a time. This means if you already have another personal Southwest card, you won’t qualify for this one.

    Also, you can also only earn a personal Southwest credit card welcome bonus once every 24 months.

    Welcome Bonus

    With the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card, you can earn 40,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open.

    Another way you can earn a Companion pass is earning 125,000 Southwest points in a calendar year to earn a Companion Pass, which equates to a significant amount of flying (or spending). But one of the best perks of the Chase Southwest Premier card is that all points earned with this card count towards your Companion Pass. This makes it one of the easiest methods for earning that holy grail of travel.

    After you earn it, you can enjoy the Companion Pass for the remainder of the calendar year that you earn it in, plus the next year. So if you earned it tomorrow, you could bring a travel buddy for free through December 2021.

    Get a bonus 6,000 Southwest points each year

    Southwest Premier card holders earn 6,000 bonus points each year on their card member anniversary. These points have no minimum spending requirement; you simply get it each year you renew your card (AKA, pay the annual fee). With an average value of ~1.5 cents per Southwest point, this bonus is worth ~$90 per year in free travel on Southwest.

    Car rental insurance

    Since this card is designed for folks that like to travel, it is great to see a whole host of different travel benefits also offered for card holders of the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card.

    When you book a rental car with this credit card, you will have the protection of car rental insurance against damage due to collision and theft. This coverage is secondary to your primary insurance. In other words, if you have auto insurance, this will only cover what your personal insurance doesn’t.

    Baggage delay insurance

    If your bags arrive at your destination six or more hours after you, then you and your immediate family are eligible for baggage delay insurance. You can receive up to $100 per day (maximum three days), but you must charge at least part of your airfare to your Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card to be covered.

    Lost luggage insurance

    If your luggage is lost by the airline, you and your immediate family are covered for up to $3,000 per passenger. This coverage protects both your checked luggage and carry-on luggage that is damaged as a result of carrier negligence.

    Travel accident insurance

    When you pay for your air, bus, train or cruise transportation with your card, you are eligible to receive up to $500,000 in travel accident insurance. Examples of covered tragedies are:

    No foreign transaction fees

    The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card has no foreign transaction fees. This makes it a great card to use while traveling abroad.

    Extended warranty protection

    It can be smart to use this card for everyday purchases. Not only will you earn Southwest points on all purchases, but you can also enjoy purchase protection benefits. This is especially useful when buying electronics and appliances.

    With extended warranty protection, you’ll receive an additional year on eligible U.S. manufacturer’s warranties of three years or less. And you’re covered for a maximum of $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account. So if use your Chase Southwest Premier to purchase a TV that comes with a one-year warranty, then the card will extend your warranty to a total of two years. That’s a pretty good deal, and it doesn’t cost you anything extra. Just make sure you use this card for your purchase!

    This is especially cool since many things now are coming with very short 90-day manufacturer warranties.

    Insurance against damage and theft

    As an additional purchase protection, any eligible new purchases with your card are protected for 120 days against damage and theft. This applies up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.

    This just offers additional peace of mind on new purchases.

    Overall value

    This card has an annual fee of $99 per year. However, if you’ll use even some of the above benefits, The Southwest Premier Card is worth the annual fee. Remember, each year on your card holder anniversary you earn 6,000 Southwest points at the same time that this annual fee hits your account. Because these points alone are worth $90 (6,000 Southwest points X ~1.5 cents), the cost of the card each year effectively becomes just ~$9.

    Add to this the the other perks, and this card is definitely worth trying out, at least for one year.

    Bottom line

    The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card is a valuable credit card for anyone who flies Southwest. This card offers a ton of valuable benefits for travelers, including:

    1. Earn 40,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open.
    2. Get a bonus 6,000 Southwest Points each year.
    3. No foreign transaction fees.
    4. Travel protection coverage.
    5. Purchase protection coverage.

    Overall, this is a great card for earning more Southwest points toward free travel each year. Which benefit is your favorite on the Southwest Premier card?

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    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)